1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to multi well plates typically used in the chemical and biological arts and more specifically to an improved sealing plate cover for a multi well plate that is adapted for low or high temperature space efficient storage and robotic manipulation.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is common in performing chemical or biological tests to use a piece of laboratory equipment known as a micro or multi well plate. A multi well plate is typically a plastic plate containing an array of wells organized in regular horizontal and vertical rows. A multi well plate typically contains 24, 96, 384 or 1,536 wells. Multi well plates come in many configurations including shallow wells, half wells, deep wells, cube tubes, or mini tubes. The wells are used to contain compounds or chemicals in solution. A multi well plate can hold as little as 0.5 ul of compound.
When the multi well plate is not being used, it is stored, usually in a refrigerated storage locker. When the multi well plate is placed into or removed from storage, it may be handled with robotic machinery, such as a gripper. In its stored state, the multi well plate serves as a library of compounds or chemicals for future tests.
Unfortunately, existing covers for multi well plates tend to be loose-fitting. A loose-fitting seal does not significantly guard against evaporation, sublimation, absorption, or cross-contamination between wells. To overcome this limitation, a tight-fitting seal made of adhesive backed foil, Mylar or polyethylene is often applied by the end user. While the adhesive backed seal helps in preserving the integrity of the compounds, robotic equipment have a difficult time handling the adhesive backed cover. Consequently, the cover is usually removed manually due to the difficulty in automating adhesive backed seal removal.
The present invention is directed to solving the foregoing problems of the existing art.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cover for use in sealing a multi-well plate, the cover is adapted for robotic gripper manipulation. The cover comprises: 1) a lid plate defining a planar expanse sufficient to cover the multi-well plate; 2) a plurality of tabs protruding from the lid plate; 3) a compressible layer attached to one side of the lid plate; 4) a non-stick layer attached to the compressible layer; and 5) a torsion spring member connected to the sheet, the spring member is adapted, when in use, to rotationally engage the multi-well plate to hermetically seal the multi-well plate by applying an upward force thereto.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sealed multi-well plate, comprising: 1) a plate defining a plurality of containment wells; 2) a non-stick layer disposed on and extending over the majority of the principal surface of the plate; 3) a compressible layer attached to the non-stick layer; 4) a lid disposed on the compressible layer having a torsion spring member, the spring member adapted to rotationally engage the multi-well plate to compress the compressible layer and the non-stick layer on the principal surface of the plate thus, hermetically sealing the containment wells; and 5) a plurality of tabs protruding from the lid plate to aid in robotic gripper manipulation.
Each of the preferred embodiments further comprises a lid plate made from, either alone or in combination, metal, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, or the like.
Each of the preferred embodiments further comprises a compressible layer made from, either alone or in combination, silicone rubber, silicone foam, neoprene rubber, polyurethane foam or the like.
Each of the preferred embodiments further comprises a non-stick layer made from, either alone or in combination, Teflon, Mylar, polypropylene or the like.
Each of the preferred embodiments further comprises a retractable wire torsion spring member, preferably of stainless steel, the spring member, when not in use, retracts to minimize space requirements.
Each of the preferred embodiments further comprises notches on the lid plate for ease in the stacking of the covers alone or when attached to the multi well plate.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.